The demands of aesthetics, aerodynamics and wind-noise control often make it desirable for a door handle to lie flush with the surrounding door skin of a vehicle. Flap-type door handles may be used for this reason. Such handles comprise a typically top-pivoted flap that is pulled against spring bias and hence pivoted outwardly with respect to the surrounding door skin to unlatch the door. A finger recess is usually provided in the door skin adjacent to—most commonly underneath—the flap of the handle. This recess gives finger access to the rear of the handle so that the handle may be pulled to unlatch and open the door.
A flap-type handle tends to be awkward to use and cannot be grasped as comfortably or satisfyingly as other handle types. Perhaps the most convenient handle type has a protruding bar-like grab or handgrip that may be gripped in the user's hand, an example being a strap-type handle in which the handgrip is part of a loop.
Strap-type handles have particular benefits over flap-type handles in terms of ergonomics and load transferral: for example, when using a flap-type handle, it is not possible for the user to choose whether to use an overhand or underhand grip style. Also, a flap-type handle constrains where the handle may be positioned on the vehicle with respect to the user's stance. Unfortunately, however, the protruding handgrip of a strap-type handle does not have the benefits of flush mounting.
A flap-type handle with its associated finger recess is also an aesthetic constraint. There have therefore been several proposals in the prior art to provide a finger recess with a hinged cover plate that lies flush with the door skin and with the adjacent flap-type handle but that pivots inwardly to admit the user's fingers to operate the handle. However, this cover plate does not solve the inherent problems of a flap-type handle: if anything, it makes the handle more difficult to use. Also, arguably, a cover plate may look no better than leaving the finger recess uncovered.
To solve some of these problems and to offer a ‘surprise and delight’ feature, some flush-mounted door handles are retractably mounted to a vehicle. This means that the handle can move between two states: a stowed or retracted state in which the handle is flush-mounted and a deployed or extended state in which the handle stands proud of the surrounding bodywork to be easier to grasp.
Once in the deployed state, the handle can then be pulled to open the door. This involves moving the handle to a third, operative state to unlatch the door, typically by pivoting the deployed handle against spring bias. In moving from the deployed state to the operative state, the handle may unlatch the door mechanically—for example by pulling a Bowden cable acting on the door latch—or electrically—for example by switching a solenoid acting on the door latch.
In a recent example used in Aston Martin cars, a flush-mounted door handle comprises a lever bar pivotally attached near one end to a door. In the stowed state, the lever bar lies flush with the door skin. In the deployed state, a major portion of the lever bar pivots outwardly from the door skin so that a user may grasp and pull it out further into the operative state to unlatch and open the door. A user moves the handle from the stowed state to the deployed state by pressing in the front end of the lever bar against spring bias so that the lever bar pivots outwardly at its rear end. Whilst intriguing, this arrangement is somewhat awkward and it is not intuitive to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,913 discloses a door handle having a face plate that, when stowed, lies flush with the door skin. When a user presses the face plate, the face plate pops out under spring bias to a deployed state where it may be gripped by the user and pulled outwardly into an operative state to unlatch and open the door. However, this involves two manual operations and requires dexterity. Also, the face plate operates in the manner of a flap-type handle and so suffers from many of its disadvantages.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,687 discloses a retractable strap-type car door handle having a mechanism comprising two pivot levers on fixed pivot axes, one at each end of the handle. The levers are joined by a link rod that causes both levers to move together between the stowed and deployed states. Once deployed, one end of the handle is displaced relative to the associated pivot lever to move the handle into the operative position in which the handle unlatches the door. The mechanism is complex and bulky, noting that much of the mechanism lies inboard of the handle. The mechanism therefore requires a space of considerable depth between the window glass path and the door skin, where space is usually at a premium.
It is against this background that the present invention has been devised.